Monday, February 10, 2014

Malaysian Catholic paper told: stop discussing 'Allah' issue

The Home Ministry has advised the Herald against “discussing” the
‘Allah’ issue in line with a court ruling last year barring the Catholic
weekly from using the word.The ministry’s Publication and
Quranic Texts Control Division secretary Hashimah Nik Jaafar confirmed
that an advisory was sent to the Catholic weekly last month, but added
that it was simply a reminder that the paper should respect the Court of
Appeal ruling in October last year.

“The ministry has found that
the Herald has been discussing the ‘Allah’ issue in their articles.
They have to respect the court of appeal ruling.

“It is up to them, we are just advising,” she told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Hashimah
said that it was ultimately up to the editors of the Herald to abide by
the advisory, adding failure to do so won’t result in any action.

The
Catholic Church is appealing the Court of Appeal’s landmark decision in
October which overturned a lower court’s 2009 decision in its favour.

Malaysia’s highest court, the Federal Court, will hear arguments on March 5 before deciding if the Church is allowed to appeal.